This thesis relies on the works of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak and Seyla Benhabib in the field of Postcolonialism. Guided by their theoretical insights it is aiming at providing an understanding of how postcolonial structures within the International Humanitarian Aid discourse takes form and discuss strategies for communication that would be deemed justified in this context. Through a field research in Lebanon, focusing on the Lebanese Red Cross and their methods used for communication, it provides a scrutiny of the theoretical insights of Spivak and Benhabib, in order to see how plausible they are when discussing the way Global Humanitarian Organizations operate in todays’ world. In the conclusive discussion, the study exposes the importance for these organizations to let go of their essentialist way of looking at the subaltern, continuously depriving her of her subject position. In a context of asymmetrical power relations, there is a need for these organizations to ”learn to learn from below”. The people of the Western world need to unlearn Western privilege to enable themselves to relate to people and communities outside of their own paradigm and thus create presuppositions for an ethical communication.

The mounting of relief operations by the -humanitarian organizations during the thirty month Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970), for the blockaded Eastern Region became the center of intense political controversy throughout the war. The study analyzes in detail the activities of the humanitarian organizations as well as their influence which they exerted on both parties involved in the crisis. The Federal Government of Nigeria has consistently maintained that the humanitarian organizations involved in the relief efforts in Biafra were guilty of intervention in their internal affairs. The humanitarian organizations insist that their actions were purely humanitarian. This study seeks to ex an ire the merits of the two positions, using international law concepts, empirical data on relief activities and the historical record of the Nigerian civil war as the framework for this examination. The discussion of the nature of humanitarianism and the circumstances under which humanitarian intervention may be justifiable helps to explain the argument by the humanitarian organizations that humanitarian considerations to intervene in order to save civilian lives outweighed Nigeria's charges of their being guilty of intervention. The study concludes that even if the humanitarian organizations, efforts to airlift relief materials to Biafra were purely humanitarian in nature, they cannot be divorced from the political consequences that result from their activities. The study also concludes that the economic support that the humanitarian groups provided the Biafrans was vital toBiafra's legitimacy as a sovereign nation.

The object of this thesis is to focus on one of the valued-based agendas of the international relations --humanitarian aid. This topic is narrowed to the actions of non- and inter-governmental organizations. It as well contains the analysis of campaign framing of these organizations. The main task is to evaluate the success of humanitarian actions on the disaster in Haiti. The thesis includes a questionnaire that should find out how do the humanitarian organizations and their campaigns influence public opinion.

Disasters can occur anywhere in the world and when they do, human lives as well as infrastructure are affected in diverse ways. The impact of disasters usually warrant an immediate response from aid agencies because human lives are at stake and that is where humanitarian logistics comes into play. Humanitarian organizations involved in relief efforts have an enormous task of responding to emergencies in a very swift manner and are constantly seeking for new and innovative ways to reach their beneficiaries with utmost satisfaction. One way of doing this is through collaboration and engaging in partnerships with private sector companies. Given the fact that humanitarian organizations and private sector companies operate in different sectors, such partnerships could be challenging yet beneficial in diverse ways. The purpose of this thesis was to analyze the cross-sector partnership between humanitarian organizations and the private sector. In order to achieve this aim, a frame of reference was developed with an operational partnership model and theory whislt examining and contrasting both humanitarian and business supply chains. Our methodology involved both primary and secondary data collection with empirical data collected from two private companies and one humanitarian organization. Data collected for the study were then analyzed in relation to the literature and models outlined in the frame of reference. The results of the study showed that the partnerships between the firms of the two sectors studied were philanthropic, long-term and mutually beneficial in diverse ways. Whilst the private companies benefit through improvements in Corporate Social Responsibility, creating public awareness of their corporate image, and brand among other benefits by engaging in the partnership, humanitarian organizations on the other hand, partner with companies which fit their expressed needs and gain benefits in both monetary and non-monetary terms. Moreover, knowledge transfer through the sharing of skills, experiences, resources and expertise are also very important elements which add to the benefits gained by both partners. In addition, the findings obtained from the respondents of the study demonstrated that trust, personal connection, regular communication and working together are very important elements which can be considered as critical success factors which sustain partnerships.

Humanitarian workers often operate in high-risk environments, including warzones, environmental disasters, and outbreaks of infectious diseases, amongst others. Research shows that the mental health of any worker is affected when exposed to high levels of negative stress for some time. Stress management and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) are, on the other hand, used to counteract stress and the consequences of stressors. The aim of the study was to find out if MHPSS is different for international and national humanitarian workers within the investigated organizations and how the implementation of stress management, a vital part of MHPSS, can benefit the well-being of humanitarian workers. The author conducted the information for the research through semi-structured interviews with psychologists working with MHPSS of humanitarian staff in three organizations: IOM, ICRC, and MSF. The results were analyzed through the lenses of preventative stress management, a concept combining both organizational and individual approaches to stress management. The findings displayed a difference in accessing MHPSS because of stigma and awareness regarding mental health. Increased awareness granted more access for humanitarian personnel to MHPSS and increased their demands for more resources. The results of implemented interventions in the organizations showed favorable results. Therefore, the conclusion proclaimed the importance of continuing to raise awareness of mental well-being for all humanitarian staff since knowledge and a positive attitude towards stress management increase the possibility of enhancing the well-being of the humanitarian workers.

Individual shortcomings and the need for resources stimulates organizations desire to establish collaborative relations with each other. An organization tends to prefer to collaborate with other familiar organizations. The information available to an organization about its peers is necessary for its ability to appreciate the suitability of potential partners as well as their capabilities and ability to contribute to a successful collaborative relation. In a three stage analytical process, social network analysis and statistical network modelling is applied to investigate the correlation between patterns of communication and the extent to which organizations establish collaborative relationships. With a theoretical framework of resource dependence theory and social capital, data on information exchanges, resource exchanges and common advocacy among humanitarian 55 organizations is mapped. The first analytical stage explicates the structures of the collected information exchanges and evaluates the prevalence of coordination facilitating communication structures. The second stage appreciates the extent of inter-organizational involvement in collaborative relationships. The third step combines these results to demonstrate the covariance between the prevalence of coordination facilitating structures and extent of collaborative relations. The results indicate that the collected information exchanges exhibit few coordination facilitating structures and the organizations are only to a very limited extent engaged in collaborative relationships with each other. While consistent with previous research on the importance of communication for coordination, these observations illustrate the negative consequences of lacking communication. This analysis contributes with added empirical experiences to solidify our understanding of organizational behavior in inter-organizational interaction and tendencies to establish collaborative relations.

It’s significant for charities to incorporate persuasion strategies into their communication to create engagement and encourage donations. This is especially important in circumstances of war due to the millions of people who are forced to flee and need emergency assistance. UNHCR is currently located in the war-torn area of Ukraine and needs support to continue their humanitarian aid. Thus, this study aims to examine how the UNHCR uses persuasion strategies in their advertisements concerning the refugee crisis in Ukraine to prompt donations. The object of the study causes the following research questions: What persuasion strategies does UNHCR use to generate contributions through commercials related to the refugee crisis in Ukraine? In which way are the three pisteis of rhetoric: logos, ethos, and pathos, used? What meaning can the commercials be seen communicating on a manifest and latent level?  As the study focuses on different ways of convincing, rhetorics as a theoretical framework becomes natural to use. The classical and visual rhetoric thus serve as a support in the critical visual rhetoric analysis carried out in the study. A generic targeted selection has been used to select and analyze four commercials from the UNHCR's YouTube channel. The results show that UNHCR frequently uses rhetorical means to persuade donations, including the three pisteis of rhetoric and other persuasion strategies that appear mainly at a latent level. / Att tillföra övertygelsestrategier i sin kommunikation är för välgörenhetsorganisationer betydelsefullt för att skapa engagemang och uppmuntra till donationer. Det är särskilt viktigt under sådana omständigheter då det råder krig, med anledning av de många gånger miljontals människor som drivs på flykt och behöver nödhjälp i situationen. UNHCR befinner sig för nuvarande i det krigsladdade området i Ukraina och behöver stöd för att kunna fortsätta bedriva hjälpinsatser. Därmed syftar denna studie till att undersöka hur UNHCR arbetar för att övertyga till donationer i reklamfilmer om flyktingkrisen i Ukraina. Studiens syfte leder till följande forskningsfrågor: Vilka strategier för att övertyga till bidrag använder UNHCR i reklamfilmer som rör flyktingkrisen i Ukraina? Hur har man använt sig av retorikens tre pisteis: logos, ethos och pathos? Vilken mening kan reklamfilmerna ses kommunicera på en manifest respektive latent nivå?  Då studien fokuserar på olika sätt att övertyga blir retoriken naturlig att använda som teoretiskt ramverk. Den klassiska samt den visuella retoriken fungerar således som stöd i den kritiskt visuella retorikanalysen som genomförs i studien. Med hjälp av generiskt målstyrt urval har fyra reklamfilmer från UNHCR:s YouTube-kanal valts ut och analyserats. Resultatet visar att UNHCR frekvent använder sig av flertalet retoriska grepp med syfte att övertyga, däribland retorikens tre pisteis men också andra former av övertygelsestrategier som ter sig främst på en latent nivå.

Cette thèse a pour objet d’examiner la médiatisation des associations humanitaires au Liban, à partir de l’étude des productions médiatiques de trois associations, entre 2009 et 2011. La première partie fait ressortir l’évolution de l’action humanitaire, ses objectifs et ses stratégies de communication. L’art de la rhétorique, la suprématie de l’image ainsi que le témoignage humain contribuent à la légitimisation des associations. La deuxième partie est centrée sur les formes de mise en visibilité des associations. Une analyse approfondie de leurs productions médiatiques révèle que les cadrages retenus mettent en oeuvre plusieurs processus afin d’affirmer l’identité, la mission et l’engagement religieux et politique de l’association. La troisième partie porte sur les différentes visées de captation des associations et leurs résonances dans la presse écrite. L’étude est menée à partir des composantes visuelles, verbales et sonores de ces productions médiatiques qui déclenchent le mécanisme des neurones miroirs et l’identification avec les victimes. L’analyse montre que la scénarisation des activités humanitaires par la presse écrite entraîne une pathémisation de l’opinion publique, ce qui résulte en une adhésion à l’association, ainsi qu’à son projet politique et religieux. / The purpose of this thesis is to examine media coverage of humanitarian organizations in Lebanon, based on the study of media productions of three organizations between 2009 and 2011. The first part highlights the evolution of humanitarian action, its objectives and its communication strategies. The art of rhetoric, image supremacy and human testimony contribute to the legitimization of the organization. The second part focuses on the means of rendering the association more visible. A thorough analysis of an association’s media productions reveals that the related framing put in place several processes to assert its identity, its mission and its religious and political engagement. The third part deals with different methods of the organizations’ attractions and their resonances within the written media. The study is conducted on the basis of visual, verbal and audio components of these media productions that trigger the mechanism of mirror neurons and identification with the victims. The analysis shows that the act of scenarizing humanitarian activities by the press causes a pathemisation of the public opinion resulting in the adherence to the association and to its political and religious beliefs.

One billion of people lives less than one dollar a day, millions of people are forced to live out of their home, problems of humanitarian aid are very pressing theme. This diploma thesis aims to create a didactit unit for students of medical school, which would deepen their knowledges and influence their attitudes to humanitarian aid. At first at theoretic part the space is focused on complete overview in humanitarian aid, starting on history, current strategy of humanitarian aid, individual participants of aid, over the rules and risk, up to ethic and legal anchoring of aid. In theoretic part is giving a description in brief of three non- governmental non-profitable organization, whose are engaging in humanitarian aid (International Movement of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Docktors without Borders known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, which is devoted more space in view of the fact that students'orientation and Czech organization People in Trouble). In research part the questionnaire survey is performed in chosen medical school, which inquires the basic knowledges of humanitarian aid and three chosen non-profit organization and monitors students'attitudes to given problems. The didactic unit is created in the basis of analysis of collected data. From the questionnaire survey is clear the...

Social work encourages social change, solving problems in human relations, strengthens and liberates people, in order to fulfill their personal welfare. Its goal is to let all people to fully develop their abilities and prevent failure. The point of social work in humanitarian aid area is removal of significant negative factors, which could negatively influent already difficult social situation of individual or whole society. The goal of providing humanitarian aid to suffering is alleviation of consequences of their social situation and providing self-sufficiency for individual and whole society. There have been radical changes in social area since 1990. Various social problems are growing and so is growing the need for solution. Social worker skill requirements are increasing. Social working education had to be re-gained to university level as a professional activity. Minimum social working education standards emerge, universities got accreditations for additional areas of social work. Newly emerged humanitarian work field prepares student for quality work in humanitarian and developing help. New ways of competence for social work are sought. The theoretical part of thesis informs about traditions, goal of humanitarian and developing aid, current education possibilities, describes method, theory and ethics of social work. It also focuses on effect of traumatizing events on individual and society. The research part of thesis uses experience, views and opinions of social workers on problematics of social workers role in humanitarian and developing aid, opinions of social working students about education in humanitarian and developing aid. Motivation for the thesis was also own interest in social working domain, the need to inform social workers about specificity of work in humanitarian and developing organizations and current options for education of social workers. The thesis can also be useful source of information for wide public and social working or humanitarian aid applicants.